madmick19
Bluelight Crew
just posting an article i was asked to write for a publication by the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League reviewing the ama conference. thanks to the ppl who replied in this post,you may find i borrowed some text for it
A Ground Floor View Of the Roof
“The Australian Medical Association, (AMA) is an independent organisation which represents more than 26,000 doctors, whether salaried or in private practice, whether general practitioners, specialists, teachers and researchers or young doctors. It also represents the public face of Australian medicine. It is the vehicle through which doctors fulfil their obligations to the community as advocates for those with neither power nor influence. The AMA is an agent of change, a voice of reason and an independent leader of societal values. The AMA has a federal structure, with branches in each state and territory which focus primarily on state matters, and a Canberra-based federal body which deals with national issues. (AMA website)”
In April, The AMA held their second Drug Summit - “Party Drugs: A new Public Health Challenge” which was held at the National Press Club Canberra. Luckily for me, I was able to attend this invitation only meeting that aimed to bring together key stakeholders to discuss the concerns of drug use in our community. As was stated by Dr Kerryn Phelps, the AMA’s Federal President in her opening address “this conference was providing a forum for key groups to come together and discuss ways of minimizing harm associated with the use and miss-use of drugs in our community”, with the days focus on ‘Party Drugs’.
There was a diverse group of people attending the day; dance drug users although we were in the minority, drug services providers, national organisations such as the Australian National Council on Drugs, Family Drug Support and GP’s.
The day progressed with a range of guest speakers whose topics covered a broad range of issues as:
Paul Dillon- National drug and Alcohol Research Centre Sydney “ New Drugs New Risks: the Current state of play in Australia.
Paul covered a range issues: of drug use patterns, including poly drug use patterns and conveyed the need to get accurate information across to the drug users themselves.
Tim Waugh- General Manager ‘Home’ nightclub Sydney “The Role of Night Club Venues in Minimizing the Harm Associated with party drug use”
Tim showed us an in depth insight into the implementation and progression of Home’s Harm Minimisation Plan. Which should be mentioned as the NSW Police Service was acknowledged it and awarded them with a certificate of recognition.
Home’s harm minimisation plan also includes a program by name of Save a mate @HOME (SAM@HOME), where the Red Cross and Home nightclub have come together to offer home patrons access free high quality drug information and drug overdose first aid courses.
Dr Drew Moore- Brisbane Inner south Div. of General Practice: Party Drug Use From A GP’s Perspective.
Dr Drew Moore informed us of his perspective of treating and dealing with patients, his perspective of current drug user trends and the lack of knowledge that doctors have on drug use. He also stated that there needs to be national or state wide training for GP’s on the subject of treatment and information.
Dr Moore is also involved in a successful program “GP’s go to school” where the GP’s involved go to selected schools to have group discussions and classes on the subject of drugs. This is an ongoing project that should yield a good stake in education by getting information out to young people and where they are not afraid to ask questions.
I was very impressed with Drew’s presentation and ongoing passion and commitment to young people and drug issues.
Nicky Bath – Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL): “Dancing with Demons”- the current status quo of dance drug users in Australia.
Nicky covered critical issues as people’s rights as humans and clubbers, and the destructive controversial acts that the police have been using as scare tactics, such as sniffer dogs in public places.
Nicky explored the culture and diversity that makes up the club drug culture and how corporations are now seeking these target audience with energy drinks and alike.
Nicky also provided information on how other countries and even magazines have handled the ongoing concerns of recreational drug use.
The afternoon saw the conference delegates split into three discussion groups dealing with specific topics and ways to address them:
# Professional education
# Treatment
#Prevention and
#Research.
The day went well and from my opinion a lot of the focus in the summation of proceedings by Caroline Fitzwarryne (Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia) came down to peer education, research, human rights, reliable information, review of pill testing and Peer Education.
Coming into this conference with so little political and policymaking experience, I found it surprising to find some peoples conception of recreational party drug use as a very ‘old School’ way of thinking. Then I was bewildered by the lack of understanding and the ‘quick to classify/identify’ drug users social standing attitude. That in my mind can’t really be done effectively due to the diversity that the drug scene has evolved into, and the fact that society is more open to experimentation than ever before.
I attended this conference with the hope that it would start thought provocation in terms of Harm Reduction and Peer education. It is these two areas where I believe we need to focus on, now that the drug issue is so wide spread - we are in ‘catch up’ mode.
I still think that this conference was very interesting and eye opening, and a step in the right direction to achieving a practical result in the long term.
The Governments lack of innovation in developing programs that deal with drug issues usually achieves or pioneers little. The current stand on illicit drugs boils down to putting a different spin on an asymmetrical PR campaign. The government seems to have refused to understand key publics thinking in the approach to dealing with illicit drugs. In the implementation of the current drug campaign, valuable contributions from harm minimisation groups have been effectively ignored. The result is a campaign that has promoted a narrow understanding of the drug issue and ineffective strategies. There was recognition at the conference however, that the current policy on illicit drugs may in fact be causing more harm than good, and acknowledgment that harm minimsation and peer education approaches are areas that would contribute a valuable approach to the illicit drugs problem in Australia.
It is still surprising that small harm reduction groups can implement and distribute unbiased accurate information to the public on ways to prevent harm by lessening the risks involved with recreational drug use with positive localised effects where it is implemented. And it goes against the grain of current policy, Why not support something that works??
Michael Haines
Director
CodeBlue Harm Reduction Services Canberra
"because sometimes what you don’t know can harm you"
A Ground Floor View Of the Roof
“The Australian Medical Association, (AMA) is an independent organisation which represents more than 26,000 doctors, whether salaried or in private practice, whether general practitioners, specialists, teachers and researchers or young doctors. It also represents the public face of Australian medicine. It is the vehicle through which doctors fulfil their obligations to the community as advocates for those with neither power nor influence. The AMA is an agent of change, a voice of reason and an independent leader of societal values. The AMA has a federal structure, with branches in each state and territory which focus primarily on state matters, and a Canberra-based federal body which deals with national issues. (AMA website)”
In April, The AMA held their second Drug Summit - “Party Drugs: A new Public Health Challenge” which was held at the National Press Club Canberra. Luckily for me, I was able to attend this invitation only meeting that aimed to bring together key stakeholders to discuss the concerns of drug use in our community. As was stated by Dr Kerryn Phelps, the AMA’s Federal President in her opening address “this conference was providing a forum for key groups to come together and discuss ways of minimizing harm associated with the use and miss-use of drugs in our community”, with the days focus on ‘Party Drugs’.
There was a diverse group of people attending the day; dance drug users although we were in the minority, drug services providers, national organisations such as the Australian National Council on Drugs, Family Drug Support and GP’s.
The day progressed with a range of guest speakers whose topics covered a broad range of issues as:
Paul Dillon- National drug and Alcohol Research Centre Sydney “ New Drugs New Risks: the Current state of play in Australia.
Paul covered a range issues: of drug use patterns, including poly drug use patterns and conveyed the need to get accurate information across to the drug users themselves.
Tim Waugh- General Manager ‘Home’ nightclub Sydney “The Role of Night Club Venues in Minimizing the Harm Associated with party drug use”
Tim showed us an in depth insight into the implementation and progression of Home’s Harm Minimisation Plan. Which should be mentioned as the NSW Police Service was acknowledged it and awarded them with a certificate of recognition.
Home’s harm minimisation plan also includes a program by name of Save a mate @HOME (SAM@HOME), where the Red Cross and Home nightclub have come together to offer home patrons access free high quality drug information and drug overdose first aid courses.
Dr Drew Moore- Brisbane Inner south Div. of General Practice: Party Drug Use From A GP’s Perspective.
Dr Drew Moore informed us of his perspective of treating and dealing with patients, his perspective of current drug user trends and the lack of knowledge that doctors have on drug use. He also stated that there needs to be national or state wide training for GP’s on the subject of treatment and information.
Dr Moore is also involved in a successful program “GP’s go to school” where the GP’s involved go to selected schools to have group discussions and classes on the subject of drugs. This is an ongoing project that should yield a good stake in education by getting information out to young people and where they are not afraid to ask questions.
I was very impressed with Drew’s presentation and ongoing passion and commitment to young people and drug issues.
Nicky Bath – Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL): “Dancing with Demons”- the current status quo of dance drug users in Australia.
Nicky covered critical issues as people’s rights as humans and clubbers, and the destructive controversial acts that the police have been using as scare tactics, such as sniffer dogs in public places.
Nicky explored the culture and diversity that makes up the club drug culture and how corporations are now seeking these target audience with energy drinks and alike.
Nicky also provided information on how other countries and even magazines have handled the ongoing concerns of recreational drug use.
The afternoon saw the conference delegates split into three discussion groups dealing with specific topics and ways to address them:
# Professional education
# Treatment
#Prevention and
#Research.
The day went well and from my opinion a lot of the focus in the summation of proceedings by Caroline Fitzwarryne (Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia) came down to peer education, research, human rights, reliable information, review of pill testing and Peer Education.
Coming into this conference with so little political and policymaking experience, I found it surprising to find some peoples conception of recreational party drug use as a very ‘old School’ way of thinking. Then I was bewildered by the lack of understanding and the ‘quick to classify/identify’ drug users social standing attitude. That in my mind can’t really be done effectively due to the diversity that the drug scene has evolved into, and the fact that society is more open to experimentation than ever before.
I attended this conference with the hope that it would start thought provocation in terms of Harm Reduction and Peer education. It is these two areas where I believe we need to focus on, now that the drug issue is so wide spread - we are in ‘catch up’ mode.
I still think that this conference was very interesting and eye opening, and a step in the right direction to achieving a practical result in the long term.
The Governments lack of innovation in developing programs that deal with drug issues usually achieves or pioneers little. The current stand on illicit drugs boils down to putting a different spin on an asymmetrical PR campaign. The government seems to have refused to understand key publics thinking in the approach to dealing with illicit drugs. In the implementation of the current drug campaign, valuable contributions from harm minimisation groups have been effectively ignored. The result is a campaign that has promoted a narrow understanding of the drug issue and ineffective strategies. There was recognition at the conference however, that the current policy on illicit drugs may in fact be causing more harm than good, and acknowledgment that harm minimsation and peer education approaches are areas that would contribute a valuable approach to the illicit drugs problem in Australia.
It is still surprising that small harm reduction groups can implement and distribute unbiased accurate information to the public on ways to prevent harm by lessening the risks involved with recreational drug use with positive localised effects where it is implemented. And it goes against the grain of current policy, Why not support something that works??
Michael Haines
Director
CodeBlue Harm Reduction Services Canberra
"because sometimes what you don’t know can harm you"
